Queen of Men (King Maker 2)

“I do.”

“You stay safe too. Be sure to check in or I’ll have my brother find you,” she teased.

“Bye,” I said and she said it back.

When I placed the handset back on the base, I felt alone. Though I’d been close to my sister Violet, she and I were very different people. Lizzy had been a kindred spirit of sorts even though we’d grown up with very different lives.

Then my inconsiderate thoughts drifted back to Kalen, the virile man. He wouldn’t be lonely for long. Women would line up to play bedmate. And I’d freed him, not that he was the kind of man to be tethered to anyone. So why should I think of him?

I was glad there wasn’t access to TVs or social media. Though I’d given him up, it wasn’t like I could handle seeing him with someone else.

Thinking of him only made my nether regions clench in anticipation. Memories of how he buried himself inside me and how he knew exactly how to wield that big cock of his almost made me whimper until I checked myself. No. I was strong. Screw him, as Lizzy would say. Then again, those words were the exact cause of all my troubles.

Those events had led me here and had solidified our non-future. I tucked all thoughts of Kalen away and wouldn’t name what I felt for him. Anger, lov—It didn’t matter. It was one too many emotions wasted on a man who didn’t deserve my time.

Instead, I dug back into the financial status of the community, relentlessly checking every transaction recorded to a source document like bank deposits and invoices as if I were still an auditor for a powerful international accounting firm.

The passage of time was counted by the dimming light trailing through the tiny window above the desk. I’d lit a candle earlier when the light had begun to fade. Now the room cloaked in shadows felt smaller and more cramped in the disappearing light.

A desk, chair, and one of the two telephones in the compound filled the room. The only other piece of furniture was a bookshelf that anchored one end of the room and held the weight of the community’s manual bookkeeping.

It seemed my arrival hadn’t been shared with my school-bound siblings as they hadn’t come to see me. But then again, my arrival was probably not the highlight of their day.

My skin nearly left my body when a voice broke through the silence. “I thought you’d be here.”

There was no need to see Turner standing behind me. His voice would always and forever be familiar to me.

“Hey,” I said before a yawn escaped my lips. The flickering candlelight gave the room an ethereal glow.

One thing hadn’t changed. He didn’t hold fast to anger long if his appearance here was any indication.

“Burning the night away?” he asked. “Or are you just hiding from me or maybe your father?”

It was both. However, I kept that to myself. After he left earlier, I wasn’t sure if he’d want to talk to me. A smile found its way to dance across my lips when I turned to face his grin.

It was true. He’d said his piece and wasn’t holding a grudge. Ignoring part of his question, I said, “I’m hoping maybe Father will be asleep before I make it home.”

He held a hand out to me. “You know your father. If he wants to talk to you tonight, he’ll wait up. You might as well get it over with.”

A groan left me before I took his hand and let him draw me to my feet. “I should go see Violet before it gets too late,” I said, closing the ledgers and putting them back on the shelf.

“You should wait until tomorrow. It’s late and it would be a long walk to her place,” he said.

I faced Turner to see he hadn’t moved. The expression on his face was tight. The tension between us was back, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. There was no denying the attraction I felt to him or the love that swelled in my heart. I’d known him all my life. At one time, I wanted to be his wife. But now… now I wasn’t sure. Everything was mottled because of Kalen. There was something about that man I couldn’t explain.

Warm hands wrapped around my arms, bringing me back. I looked up into those fathomless warm brown eyes almost the color of amber. “Turner.”

He took my calling out his name as an invitation, because his mouth headed toward mine.

Six

Kalen

The arrogance of the accounting clerk who sat before me knew no bounds. You would have thought he was the boss given the smirk on his face.

“Who authorized this wire?” I asked again.

“You,” he said with the utmost confidence. “I forwarded you the emails I received from you telling me to make those transfers.”